Five Tips for Avoiding the Mid-Day Crash

It’s noon.
You have been working for four hours straight and realize you feel so incredibly tired. Before you know it, you’re a victim of the mid-day crash.

Not fun.

But sometimes, taking the right amount of breaks and eating the right food can help you plow through the day without an issue.

Side note: I don’t drink coffee. I never have.

What’s even worse is knowing you have a giant list of things to do. Knowing that while feeling like you’re about to fall asleep can put you in a really unpleasant mood.

Here are my tips for getting through the day:

1. When you wake up, try to eat a balanced breakfast

Now, I can’t say that I follow this rule all the time– I love sugary cereal. But believe it or not, I love having eggs, toast, and a piece of fruit for breakfast. I also know people who just have a cup of coffee for breakfast, but believe me, you probably need more than that.

2. Stop working for four hours straight This may sound unrealistic, but I’m not saying to take 30 minute breaks all the time. However, studies have shown that taking a small break every half an hour or every hour can help! Go to the rest room, walk up and down the stairs in your building to get your blood pumping again, or, take a second to catch up with everyone in the break room.

Staring at your screen for four hours straight isn’t healthy for you anyway.

3. Snack on healthy food

I’m someone who loves to eat, and it’s also best for me to eat small, frequent meals throughout the day. Technically everyone should, but I do it because my appetite is small, but if I don’t eat every few hours, I get a bit lightheaded.

That said, while treats are okay on occasion, focus on snacks with protein in them such as trailmix. Junk food feels good at the moment but the bloat you feel sometime after, doesn’t. Remember, it’s about feeling full, not just “good”.

4. Break up your work and jump to different tasks

Two things make me feel drained at work: seeing how much I have to do and trying to complete something when the words aren’t coming to me. Obviously if you’re on a strict, fast approaching deadline, DON’T TAKE THIS ADVICE. However, if you’re working on something and you’re staring at it for 10 minutes without accomplishing anything, move on from it. You may find the motivation later. However, don’t push it off until the last minute.

Please.

My other half of my tip is this: break up a task into smaller tasks. Doing so will simplify it for you and make it look less overwhelming. Plus, quickly checking stuff off will help you feel like you’re getting things done and can actually motivate you to keep going.

5. Sleep

This is probably obvious, but make sure you’re sleeping enough. Now obviously if you have kiddos, this could be much more difficult and as someone who isn’t a mother, I’m not in any position to offer advice. However, if you don’t have kids, try to power down by 9:00 p.m. every night. You don’t necessarily need to fall asleep, but getting cozy with tea and and a book can help you fall asleep faster and sleep more hours.

Look at your afterwork to-do list and see if you can rearrange anything to help you get to sleep earlier. You might be surprised to see how much of a difference small changes can make.
Got any other tips? Comment below!